The invention relates to a sealing assembly of a ball joint, in particular for a vehicle, and to a ball joint having such a sealing assembly.
Ball joints for motor vehicles are generally known and are usually protected against the penetration of dirt and moisture and against the escape of joint grease by means of a sealing bellows or a sealing cup. In today's usual embodiments, the sealing bellows is sealingly attached on both sides, i.e. to the joint housing and to the ball stud so that the joint is sealed and a reliable joint function is ensured.
However, in the conventional attachment variants, a rusting of the ball stud and a malfunction of the sealing can occur due to a capillary action via the components attached adjacent thereto.
A possible remedy to this problem is proposed in DE 10 2004 063 013 A1, and corresponding U.S. Patent No. 2010/0025950A1, the disclosures of both of which are incorporated by reference herein in entirety, for example. In this document, a support ring is provided which has a seal mounted to a shaft flange profile with an inter-material bond and which statically seals the joint sealing system with respect to the lever socket. The inter-material joint between the seal and the support ring however constitutes a complicated and cost-intensive solution.
Document JP 2 199 317 discloses a ball joint having a support ring, in which a seal is fastened in a similar manner, the seal and the support ring being bonded to each other. In one embodiment, the sealing element is pulled around the outer edge of the support ring flange.